The revelations – dismissed by May on the campaign trail as “gossip” – included the reports in a German newspaper that Juncker’s last words to the prime minister as he left were: “I’m leaving Downing Street 10 times more sceptical than I was before.”

In a way it is hardly surprising that such detail has emerged particularly when the temptation must be there on the part of senior people in Europe to put pressure on May and the British negotiating side on the issue of ‘exit payments’ to the EU.

Read More

It also can be seen in justifying Theresa May’s decision to hold a General Election now and not have this type of situation occurring later at the height of the talks.

It all underlines the difficulty of the task that May and her Government have in negotiating the best deal for the UK and in particular for businesses here to trade internationally.

That must be kept front and centre of the negotiations for the sake of all our livelihoods.

As Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce said today : “In the midst of debate around Europe and Scotland's constitutional future, our aspiring politicians must not be allowed to forget the fact that the Scottish economy is underperforming the UK as a whole, and that there may be prolonged challenges in terms of rising inflation and threats to levels of consumer demand.”

It is a time for government at all levels to look at what they can do to keep the cost burden on businesses down and provide a boost for consumer demand to keep business performing as well as possible during testing times for trade.